George P. Pelecanos – Right as Rain

Black policeman Chris Wilson was off-duty and out of uniform when he was shot by a white officer, Terry Quinn. Wilson’s mother hires private investigator Derek Strange to look at his death more closely, and find out what really happened. Pelecanos develops the characters nicely, and manages to ask some probing questions about friendship and racism at the same time as telling a tight detective story. This was my first Pelecanos book, and it makes me want to read more.